About me
Welcome to the site of Haris Dimitriadis devoted to the Epicurean Philosophy and its application in modern life. Born in Greece, Haris studied Mathematics at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki as well as Economics at the London School of Economics.
His career spanned the business and banking industries and has settled into retirement. Through climbing the corporate ladder he found it brought little peace of mind and turned his attention to the philosophy of Epicurus.
About Epicurus
THE BIOGRAPHY OF EPICURUS
By Haris Dimitriadis
Epicurus, son of Neocles and Chaerestrate, was an Athenian of the Gargettus ward and the Philaidae clan, as Metrodorus says in his book On Noble Birth. He is said by Heraclides (in his Epitome of Sotion) as well as by others, to have been brought up at Samos after the Athenians had sent colonists there, and to have come to Athens at the age of eighteen, at the time when Xenocrates was head of the Academy and Aristotle was in Chalcis...
Article of the month
“The Pleasure Lifestyle”
There is no need to ask for luxuries and costly pleasures. Simple pleasures will also do. They have the same or a higher positive impact on health and happiness. Learning how to create joyful experiences will bring great health benefits.
Movement
For those leading a sedentary lifestyle, it is never too soon and never too late to begin to move, to become more active. Walking, hiking, running, biking, swimming, and many other activities have great physical and emotional benefits. These activities produce even greater benefits when they are performed with pleasure, and not in a mechanical way out of a sense of duty. Exercising in a gym is usually good for you but climbing to the top of a hill near home and enjoying the sunrise or sunset is better for you emotionally and physically. Movement-whether through exercise at home or in the gym or hiking in the woods-increases vitality, enhances endurance, strengthens the heart, and produces many other beneficial results. In addition, movement reduces stress, helps fight allergy symptoms, decreases appetite, helps ...
Read moreThe modern hostility to pleasure
The modern hostility to pleasure
In our allegedly hedonistic society, far more people are preoccupied with pain than with pleasure. Of course, pain relief and pain control are important subjects. However, only quite a few look closer at pleasure and the role of it in life. In the same line, to date, hardly anyone has endeavored to present to the general public guidelines based on the scientifically-proven premise that pleasure promotes health and happiness. The public is aware of the importance of pleasure in life, though in an unclear way. In general, people have lost their "first sense" for living and cannot seem to find their way to a gratifying life.
Unfortunately, our society is characterized by a denial and fear of pleasure. And many of our so-called pleasures-smoking, excessive drinking, and over-indulgence in foods and desserts-are not really pleasures at all. They are, in fact, pseudo-pleasures, that is, substitutes for the true pleasures in life: making love, intimacy and sharing, creating, moving, learning, laughing-in other words, living. And because ps...
Read morePleasure: Your Innate Guide to Good Heal…
The idea that pleasure can be our innate guide to good health involves no exaggeration or stretch of the imagination. This concept is based on scientific facts and will stand up to the strictest scrutiny. The exhortation to learn what pleasure is and how to incorporate it into our lives is an ebullient call to return to good health and happiness.Following the path of natural pleasure works because it leads people to find pleasure in all aspects of life. The big question is how do you make pleasure the foundation of a happy and healthy life? To accomplish this, you need to know yourself, know your body and understand what are the obstacles in the way to living a pleasurable life.Life seeks out pleasure. Pleasure involves reaching out to the world. A pleasurable life is robust, challenging, happy, flowing and healthy. Our own biology will lead us to health-promoting pleasurable activities if we pay attention to what our senses and emotions are telling us. The healthiest people are pleasure-loving, pleasure-seeking and, most importantly, pleasure-creating people.
When all the...
Read moreLife lessons from history
January 2018 Pyrrhus of Epirus (died 272 B.C.), was a king with a lust for conquest. He set out from his little state of Epirus, Greece, to conquer the world. As…
Nature vs Reason
Philosphic inquiry took two distinct approaches in searching truth. The first one recognized the precedence of nature and the second of logic.The natural approach took the lead in the course…
Excerpts from the book
CHAPTER 1
OVERVIEW
“The secret of happiness is in the
diathesis (disposition) of which we are sole arbiters.”
Epicurean follower, Diogenes of Oenoanda
Of all the philosophers to ever walk the golden grounds of ancient Greece, there was one man particularly worthy of notice. So notable was his work that even now, two thousand three hundred years later, his philosophy is one that lingers in the social fabric of man. It is safe to say that it will continue to do so. His name was Epicurus, son of Neocles and Chaerestrate. His philosophy was that of a happy life based...
Read moreEpicurean Counselling
Epicurean Philosophical Counselling
Since antiquity the task of the practical Epicurean philosophy has been seen to “expel passions of the soul” by providing precepts for a balanced, happy life. Such life has been thought to include simple natural pleasures wisely chosen.
We all practice philosophy. The only question is whether we do it so self-consciously and well, or unconsciously and poorly. Our beliefs shape the course of our actions and a culture’s philosophy determines the character of its civilization. As long as these remain unconscious and unexamined, ...
Read moreEpicurean Quotes
Videos
Living like Epicurus Video Clip
The Bright Side Video Clip
Epicurus and the Pleasant Life - book trailer
Epicurus : Animated Explainer Video
Music
Book Buyers can download for free the album Epicurus and The Pleasant Life
Songs: On The Bright Side and Living Like Epicurus
Music - Singer: Bojan Aleksić
Lyrics and property rights: Haris Dimitriadis
Song: Nature's calls
Music - Singer: Chris Hardy
Lyrics and property rights: Haris Dimitriadis
Gallery
Buy the Book
Join the author Haris Dimitriadis on a journey through the history of philosophical and religious thought, as well as an in-depth look at the modern neuroscience, psychology, and astrophysics, and discover why the ancient Epicurean Philosophy of Nature matters as much today as it did two thousand and three hundred years ago! The answers you will find may surprise you, for you will learn, beyond any doubt, that you, too, hold the power of self-transformation, and a blissfully happy life.
The book Epicurus and The Pleasant Life: Living by the philosophy of nature by Haris Dimitriadis, is available for purchase through Amazon.